BS BULLETIN:
- Gavin Newsom told CNN’s Jake Tapper he will not run for president in 2028 if Kamala Harris enters the race.
- The unusual interview took place while Newsom and Tapper were fly fishing at Newsom’s in-laws’ Montana ranch.
- Tapper openly challenged Newsom’s reasoning, pointing out that Harris has already run for president twice while Newsom has never run.
Nothing says presidential speculation quite like two guys standing waist-deep in a Montana river holding fishing rods.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom joined CNN’s Jake Tapper for an unusually relaxed interview at his in-laws’ ranch in Montana — and managed to make some real news between casts.
Newsom said he will not run for president in 2028 if former Vice President Kamala Harris runs.
“I wouldn’t run if she ran,” Newsom told Tapper.
Tapper was surprised.
“If she runs, you will not?” he asked.
“Of course not. Why would I?” Newsom responded. “I wouldn’t do that to her. I wouldn’t do it to me. … I won’t waste everyone’s time. Who needs that?”
Tapper wasn’t entirely convinced.
He pointed out that Harris sought the Democratic nomination in the 2020 cycle and then became the party’s presidential nominee in 2024, while Newsom has never made his own run.
Newsom conceded that was a “pretty good” argument.
But he said a Harris-Newsom showdown would create “mutual assured destruction” because their political networks and supporters overlap so heavily.
“I know her base of supporters, I know her friends,” Newsom said, arguing that the Venn diagram between their constituencies is essentially “pure crossover.”
Newsom said such a contest would be “a gift from God” to everybody else running.
How lucky are we that a camera crew just happened to be standing in a Montana river while two guys who can’t cast pretended to fly fish.
Totally organic. Not staged at all.
CNN is doing the Lord’s work trying to make Newsom look like a regular dude.
Herculean task.…
— Pro America Politics (@proamericapol) September 14, 2026
The conversation was part of Tapper’s new CNN “Out of Office” format, which is designed to get politicians away from studios and traditional sit-down interviews.
Tapper wrote that he wanted to meet political figures in places where they felt comfortable and have longer conversations about their lives rather than simply chase the day’s headlines.
Newsom invited Tapper and a CNN crew to Bitterroot Springs Ranch, owned by his in-laws.
Tapper said he has also pitched the format to Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, while Republican Sen. Thom Tillis has agreed to participate.
Newsom and Tapper discussed considerably more than fishing.
The governor talked about his family, dyslexia, his first marriage, his affair with the wife of a mayoral aide, his mother’s assisted suicide, his handling of COVID and his clashes with President Donald Trump.
And, inevitably, 2028.
Newsom acknowledged he is thinking through what it would take to make a presidential run.
His wife and four children would have to support it, he said.
“If they’re not on board, that’s a non-starter.”
But one other person could apparently end the Newsom 2028 speculation before it begins.
Kamala Harris.
If she’s in, Newsom says he’s out.
MY QUICK TAKE:
Nothing staged here.
Just two fellas who happened to wander into a picturesque Montana trout stream with fishing gear, microphones, multiple cameras and a CNN production crew — and somehow started talking about running for president.
The fish never saw it coming.
DBS WIRE SOURCES:
- CNN — Out of Office: Fishing with Gavin Newsom as he contemplates a 2028 presidential run
- Twitchy — Enjoy totally authentic footage of Gavin Newsom fly fishing with CNN’s Jake Tapper
- Los Angeles Times — Newsom says he won’t run for president if Harris does
- CBS News — Newsom tells Tapper he would not run for president if Harris does
- Fox News — Gavin Newsom says he won’t run in 2028 if Kamala Harris runs
